Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
5-15, 0-9Pac-12
UCLA
15-5, 7-2Pac-12
Brooks: First-Half Turnovers Sink Buffs In 82-64 Loss To Bruins
January 29, 2016 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER – Digging itself a canyon-sized hole with 18 first-half turnovers, the Colorado women's basketball team struggled the rest of the game to escape. The Buffaloes solved most of their error issues in the second half, but couldn't make the long climb out.
Result: An 82-64 Pac-12 loss to No. 15 UCLA on Friday night at the Coors Events Center. Losing their 10th consecutive game, the Buffs dropped to 5-15 overall and 0-9 in the conference. The Bruins won their fourth straight and improved to 15-5, 7-2.
CU coach Linda Lappe said her team "did a lot of good things," most of them in a second half that saw the Buffs cut their turnover total to five and stop a Bruins parade to the foul line. UCLA shot 25 first-half free throws, making 19, and ended the game 31-of-42 from the line.
The Buffs' 23 turnovers cost them 25 points, with the Bruins making 16 steals – 12 in the first half. UCLA's bench outscored the home team 38-13. CU was 18-of-23 from the free throw line.
The fast, athletic Bruins were coming off a 56-36 home win against Stanford, which should have turned the Buffs' heads in terms of UCLA's defensive intensity. Lappe said that was difficult to simulate in practice, even working against male practice players: "Just how quick they are, how relentless they are all the time . . .
"But I liked what we did in the second half. We were a lot more fundamental, we shortened our passes, stopped trying to force cross-court passes and just executed better overall."
"They have a ton of athletic players," said junior Haley Smith, who led the Buffs with 17 points and seven rebounds. "But it's not what they were doing (in the first half), it was what we weren't doing . . . we weren't taking care of the ball and executing."
Jamee Swan contributed 16 points for the Buffs and Alexis Robinson 14. Robinson also committed a team-high seven turnovers, with Smith committing six.
Nirra Fields led UCLA with 17 points, with Lajahna Drummer adding 16, Kelli Hayes 13 and Monique Billings 10.
The Buffs were shorthanded as junior Lauren Huggins missed the game due to concussion protocol. Her status for Sunday's game has not been determined. Smith said the Buffs missed Huggins' energy and long-range shooting: "Lauren's a key scorer for us . . . she brings energy to the game and has been a great defender for us. We missed that."
Jordin Canada, UCLA's leading scorer (16.3 ppg), was carried off the court with 2:52 remaining in the third quarter with an apparent leg injury. The Bruins were leading 54-44 at the time.
CU's 45-30 halftime deficit was its largest of the first half, with turnovers largely responsible for that margin. The Bruins collected 21 points off of the Buffs' 18 miscues, and bulk of those turnovers (10) were committed in the second quarter after CU had pulled to within 20-16 at the close of the first.
But the start of the next period was disastrous. The Bruins made 12 first-half steals, and four quick ones helped UCLA launch a 10-2 run that pushed the visitors up by 14 – 32-18. The Buffs got as close as 37-30 in the half's final 2:56, but the Bruins closed out the period with a 9-1 run to take their 15-point halftime lead.
UCLA shot 25 first-half free throws, hitting 19, and opened the second half with two more by Billings to surge ahead 47-30. The Bruins increased their lead to 19 points and by the end third quarter led 59-44.
The Buffs' ball handling settled down; they committed just two third-quarter turnovers but they needed an equally efficient final quarter, better ball movement and defense to catch up.
CU couldn't do it, drawing only as close as 12 points on two occasions in the fourth quarter.
"You have to do it one possession at a time," Lappe said of making a comeback, "and I thought we had the mindset all night long. We just didn't have a big enough run in a game that was made up of runs."
The Buffs host USC on Sunday at 7 p.m., following the men's 3 p.m. contest against Cal at the CEC.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
